feat(create): add --skip-install flag to skip dependency installation (#782)

Adds a --skip-install flag to `agentcore create` that skips all
dependency installation (npm install for CDK and uv sync for Python).
This enables enterprise users behind corporate proxies or private
registries to modify package.json/pyproject.toml before installing
dependencies manually.

The flag sets the existing AGENTCORE_SKIP_INSTALL env var (previously
only used in tests) and also implies --skip-python-setup behavior.
A post-create message instructs users to install manually.

Author: jesseturner21

src/cli/commands/create/action.ts

@@ -34,12 +34,17 @@ export interface CreateProjectOptions {
   name: string;
   cwd: string;
   skipGit?: boolean;
+  skipInstall?: boolean;
   skipDependencyCheck?: boolean;
   onProgress?: ProgressCallback;
 }
 
 export async function createProject(options: CreateProjectOptions): Promise<CreateResult> {
-  const { name, cwd, skipGit, skipDependencyCheck, onProgress } = options;
+  const { name, cwd, skipGit, skipInstall, skipDependencyCheck, onProgress } = options;
+
+  if (skipInstall) {
+    process.env.AGENTCORE_SKIP_INSTALL = '1';
+  }
   const projectRoot = join(cwd, name);
   const configBaseDir = join(projectRoot, CONFIG_DIR);
 
@@ -125,6 +130,7 @@ export interface CreateWithAgentOptions {
   idleTimeout?: number;
   maxLifetime?: number;
   skipGit?: boolean;
+  skipInstall?: boolean;
   skipPythonSetup?: boolean;
   onProgress?: ProgressCallback;
 }
@@ -147,6 +153,7 @@ export async function createProjectWithAgent(options: CreateWithAgentOptions): P
     idleTimeout,
     maxLifetime: maxLifetimeOpt,
     skipGit,
+    skipInstall,
     skipPythonSetup,
     onProgress,
   } = options;
@@ -163,7 +170,7 @@ export async function createProjectWithAgent(options: CreateWithAgentOptions): P
   }
 
   // First create the base project (skip dependency check since we already did it)
-  const projectResult = await createProject({ name, cwd, skipGit, skipDependencyCheck: true, onProgress });
+  const projectResult = await createProject({ name, cwd, skipGit, skipInstall, skipDependencyCheck: true, onProgress });
   if (!projectResult.success) {
     // Merge warnings from both checks
     const allWarnings = [...depWarnings, ...(projectResult.warnings ?? [])];
@@ -267,7 +274,7 @@ export async function createProjectWithAgent(options: CreateWithAgentOptions): P
     onProgress?.('Add agent to project', 'done');
 
     // Set up Python environment if needed (unless skipped)
-    if (language === 'Python' && !skipPythonSetup) {
+    if (language === 'Python' && !skipPythonSetup && !skipInstall) {
       onProgress?.('Set up Python environment', 'start');
       const agentDir = join(projectRoot, APP_DIR, name);
       await setupPythonProject({ projectDir: agentDir });

src/cli/commands/create/command.tsx

@@ -119,7 +119,13 @@ async function handleCreateCLI(options: CreateOptions): Promise<void> {
   const skipAgent = options.agent === false;
 
   const result = skipAgent
-    ? await createProject({ name: options.name!, cwd, skipGit: options.skipGit, onProgress })
+    ? await createProject({
+        name: options.name!,
+        cwd,
+        skipGit: options.skipGit,
+        skipInstall: options.skipInstall,
+        onProgress,
+      })
     : await createProjectWithAgent({
         name: options.name!,
         cwd,
@@ -140,6 +146,7 @@ async function handleCreateCLI(options: CreateOptions): Promise<void> {
         idleTimeout: options.idleTimeout ? Number(options.idleTimeout) : undefined,
         maxLifetime: options.maxLifetime ? Number(options.maxLifetime) : undefined,
         skipGit: options.skipGit,
+        skipInstall: options.skipInstall,
         skipPythonSetup: options.skipPythonSetup,
         onProgress,
       });
@@ -148,6 +155,11 @@ async function handleCreateCLI(options: CreateOptions): Promise<void> {
     console.log(JSON.stringify(result));
   } else if (result.success) {
     printCreateSummary(options.name!, result.agentName, options.language, options.framework);
+    if (options.skipInstall) {
+      console.log(
+        "\nDependency installation was skipped. Run 'npm install' in agentcore/cdk/ and 'uv sync' in your agent directory manually."
+      );
+    }
   } else {
     console.error(result.error);
   }
@@ -190,6 +202,7 @@ export const registerCreate = (program: Command) => {
     .option('--output-dir <dir>', 'Output directory (default: current directory) [non-interactive]')
     .option('--skip-git', 'Skip git repository initialization [non-interactive]')
     .option('--skip-python-setup', 'Skip Python virtual environment setup [non-interactive]')
+    .option('--skip-install', 'Skip all dependency installation (npm install, uv sync) [non-interactive]')
     .option('--dry-run', 'Preview what would be created without making changes [non-interactive]')
     .option('--json', 'Output as JSON [non-interactive]')
     .action(async options => {
@@ -217,6 +230,7 @@ export const registerCreate = (program: Command) => {
           options.outputDir ??
           options.skipGit ??
           options.skipPythonSetup ??
+          options.skipInstall ??
           options.dryRun ??
           options.json
         );

src/cli/commands/create/types.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ export interface CreateOptions extends VpcOptions {
   outputDir?: string;
   skipGit?: boolean;
   skipPythonSetup?: boolean;
+  skipInstall?: boolean;
   dryRun?: boolean;
   json?: boolean;
 }